A creative, unconventional sushi restaurat, with bright pop colours on the walls and on your plate. The mood is set by the house cocktails – like the ‘Dawn over Tokyo’ – that mix well known flavours like Martini or Saké with less familiar tastes like that of purple-leaved shisho. The results are fresh, light and fruity.Makis (rolled sushi) are Blueberry’s great speciality. They're served in sixes, each more weirdly named than the last (Les Trublions, Rackam le Rouge, Iroquois, Transsibérien, etc.). They are elaborate, well thought through, and unusual – not for sushi purists...

A Japanese venue in the middle of Belleville’s Chinatown, which draws in passers-by with gentle aromas of grilled eel, miso soup and tempura. Inside, there's a small room with a view onto the Eglise Saint-Jean-Baptiste, and a few seats at the bar facing the chef. On the lunch menu are basic set menus (sushi-soup-salad-rice) from €11-€15, and some more complex ones that go up to around €20 a head. The sushi is seriously high quality, the salmon and prawns firm and fresh (with the wasabi already layered between the rice and fish – beware). There are also some hot breaded dishes...

One of the best sushi restaurants in Paris is tucked away on the bank of the Seine by the Ile Saint Louis. Isami's small dining room is simply decorated but for the rows of Japanses earthenware stacked behind the bar like a vast library, and in front of them the Itamae (master sushi chef) works away in a frenzy. He guts the fish with an expert hand and rolls the sticky rice and other ingredients in his palm with incredible precision, a constant movement, endlessly repeated in pursuit of perfection. It’s well worth watching during the time it can take to bring your order...

Blink and you’ll miss it, but this tiny sushi bar – not more than 20 seats – punches far above its weight in proportion to its size. It quickly made a name for itself when it opened in 2011, educating Parisian diners about the delights of fatty tuna, eel and wagyu beef. The availability of the tuna depends on the market, but the other two star products are always on the menu. The eel arrives still smoking, perfectly grilled, swiped with a delicious sweet sauce then arranged in a chirachi bowl with fish, omelette and prawns on a warm bed of rice and sesame...

Two signs 20 metres apart on the Rue Greneta, this Japanese-American hybrid is a pure Californian sushi bar, with a décor touched by Hollywood and the Far East. Don’t come here for classical sushi, but relax and enjoy the creativity; 'Krunchy' maki with prawn tempura and avocado, a Chenille (caterpillar) with avocado and eel, or a Cicciolina (fried calamari, aioli and cucumber). They’re unusual, for sure, but they’re also fresh and moreish. For more substantial dishes, try the BBQ bowl with marinated grilled beef, courgettes, fried celery and rice. It’s all good stuff at very reasonable prices – a fun place to try...

Toritcho is a real izakaya, one of those bars of the people where customers nibble on tapas-style small plates while having a drink, and one of the oldest and most authentic Japanese restaurants in Paris. Old beer posters, lucky figurines, mock swords and rackets from the traditional game hagoita decorate the walls: madame works the till while monsieur takes a relaxed yet efficient approach to service. On the varied menu you can find yakitori made from chicken meat, liver, gizzards and skin, or from vegetables that you can order salted or in a sweet and sour sauce...

The Rue Sainte-Anne and its surroundings is full of Japanese treasures, tiny restaurants serving excellent ramen, gyoza, udon and soba – but not sushi. However, at number 58, ‘sushi’ is spelled out in big letters across a slightly decrepit-looking front window. Don’t be put off – this is the real deal, with products and service in the authentic Japanese tradition. Sit at the bar if you can, and watch the chef preparing the dishes with disconcerting speed and an unfailing smile. At midday, the set sushi menus (€14 and €18) come with soup, salad, rice and dessert...

This is an unmissable destination for fresh fish lovers. The restaurant’s little blue frontage might not be much to look at, but once you get inside it oozes quality. The atmosphere is monastic: just nine covers facing the chef, who executes sushi, sashimi and maki with a disconcerting precision and in a quasi-religious silence. A craftsman of formidable calibre, he doesn’t hesitate to give his diners stern instructions in sushi etiquette.On the menu, there are a series of fish dishes served on big bowls of rice: grilled eel (the house signature dish), maguro-natto...

Philippe Starck’s latest venture in Paris is a rock-Japanese outfit occupying a 500m2 space just off the Champs-Elysées. It’s been set up to like like a narrow Chinatown street, bustling and colourful at night, with open kitchens at the end where chefs work away beneath an array of suspended woks and neon lights. Giant paper lanterns are everywhere, forests of umbrellas hung over the tables, and there's a 26-metre table made up of a mosaic of screens, across which a dragon turns somersaults. It’s permanent visual chaos, which can become wearing. If you want something a bit easier on the eyes...

Step into Kinugawa and you’ll be swept up in muted lighting, gentle music, Zen décor, air con, warm hand towels, candles… all the stops have been pulled out here. The staff are wonderfully attentive, and your glass is always full.First come chilled entrées such as tai sashimi à la Kinugawa, in which the subtle flavours of the sea bream are brought out to the full. Hot starters are also available: try the nasu dengaku (half an aubergine coated with a sweet miso crust – delicious, but very filling), or the ebi aspara apuri (a dish of grilled prawns and green asparagus tossed in a spicy lemon-garlic dressing)...

See also

Whether it's sushi, bento boxes or ramen noodles, Paris has an abundance of quality Japanese restaurants to choose from. From slick and stylish restaurants to traditional Tokyo-style eateries, you can find great Japanese food across the capital. Check out some of our favourites below... Isami One of the best sushi restaurants in Paris is tucked away on the bank of the Seine by the Ile Saint Louis. Isami's small dining room is simply decorated but for the rows of Japanses earthenware stacked behind the bar like a vast library, and in front of them the Itamae (master sushi chef) works away in a frenzy. He guts the fish with an expert hand and rolls the sticky rice and other ingredients in his palm with incredible precision, a constant movement, endlessly repeated in pursuit of perfection. It’s well worth watching during the time it can take to bring your order. When it does arrive in a large terracotta vessel, it's hard to know where to begin... Akrame Akrame has been one of the hottest Paris addresses since it opened its doors in early 2011, and talented young chef Akrame Bellalal confirmed his potential when the Michelin Guide took the unusual step of awarding the restaurant a star in its first year. So expectations are high. Bellalal worked with both Ferran Adrià and Pierre Gagnaire, and the buzz only increases when you discover how difficult it is to get a reservation, followed by a reminder call from the maitre d’ on your mobile at 9.30 the morning of the booking to re

Paris may be land-locked, but it get deliveries fresh from the seaside everyday. Here's where to taste the best seafood the city had to offer, whether you want to slurp on an oyster, eat roasted sea bass or get up close and personal with an octopus (in garlic butter)... The best seafood restaurants in Paris Pleine Mer A non-nonsense oyster restaurant that recalls a charming Breton crêperie; it’s all piles of picnic hampers, paper tablecloths and the jolly bustle and clatter of butter knives, cooking pots and oyster shells as the owner deftly flicks the shellfish open. Certainly not a destination for fine dining, it’s still a brilliant pace for hungry and thirsty groups of friends who want to sit around a table and consume plates of ultra-fresh oysters (in platters at €12.20 or €24), slices of wild smoked salmon or homemade cod roe taramasalata, and bottles of excellent white wine... L'Ilot At l’Ilot, you don’t have to pay Parisian prices for the best catch of the day. The venue is tiny but beautiful, with big slate menus, earthenware pots and white parquet, a bay window, a few photos on the walls and a terrace for nice days – it all has a solid, comfortable charm.Perch yourself on a stool and order your white wine, then browse the menu: €5 for a serving of taramasalata or tuna or salmon rillettes, €4.50 to €9.50 for pink or grey Madagascan prawns, €6.50 for whelks and €8 for a half crab (€14 for the whole). There are also beautiful oysters: Marennes from Oléron... Atao Atao l